Wednesday, July 06, 2016

Just nine days prior to the Orlando Islamic terrorist attack, guilty verdicts were issued in one of the biggest trials in U.S. history of Muslim immigrants who had turned into would-be jihadists, but the nation hardly noticed.

Out of a vast Somalian Muslim immigrant population, Minnesota sends more terrorist fighters to Syria and Iraq than any other state, but a cell of 10 who were plotting to go to Syria to join ISIS were caught before they achieve their goal.

Six have already pleaded guilty in April. Three took their chances with a jury trial, which ended June 3 with guilty verdicts for them as well, and one turned informant, working with the FBI to record conversations among his peers and provided key evidence to convict the others.

Hit with the guilty verdict on June 3, after a three-week trial, were Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21; Abdurahman Yasin Daud, 21; and Guled Ali Omar, 20. Their friend-turned-informant is Abdirahman Bashir.

WASHINGTON – Analyzing the announcement by FBI Director James Comey not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton in her email scandal, talk-radio megastar Rush Limbaugh said it “sounds very similar to what Chief Justice John Roberts did with Obamacare.”

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio sheriff’s anti-drug message in a video that plays off the “most interesting man in the world” beer campaign has been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones posted the video to his Facebook page last week declaring himself “the most interesting sheriff in the world.” It’s inspired by the popular Dos Equis beer advertising campaign that ended earlier this year.

The video features clips of Jones and a voice over saying he won the Tour de France on a stationary bicycle and gave John Wayne his blessing to play a sheriff.

Jones says in the video that he loves snitches and asks residents to turn in drug dealers.

He says heroin is “killing us” and hopes social media users will continue sharing the video.Source

While FBI Director James Comey announced in a surprise press conference on Tuesday that he will recommend that charges not be filed against Hillary Clinton and her aides for mishandling classified information, the Obama appointee torched talking points that the former secretary of state has used in defense of her email practices.

Clinton has in the past said that her emails were not classified when they were sent and received. Her campaign has also questioned the integrity of the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, which assessed last year that some of Clinton’s emails were classified at the “Top Secret” level when they were originated.

Clinton has in the past said that her emails were not classified when they were sent and received. Her campaign has also questioned the integrity of the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, which assessed last year that some of Clinton’s emails were classified at the “Top Secret” level when they were originated.

Police in Sweden are investigating five reported rapes and nearly 40 instances of groping at two music festivals over the weekend in cases likely to further infuriate activists seeking to end the country’s generous immigration policies.

Sweden has taken in more than 162,000 migrants from the Middle East and Africa in the last year, the largest influx of any European nation on a per capita basis. Most have come from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria. But the open-borders policy and generous welfare benefits given to migrants have been many years in the making, propelling the country from one of the most low-crime nations into the rape capital of Europe.

The latest rash of sexual assaults took place this weekend at Putte I Parken, a free festival in Karlstad, according to the Express, a British newspaper.

“Foreign young men” were blamed by police for the attacks at one of the festivals, and at least two unaccompanied migrant youths were arrested.More

During a Tuesday press conference, FBI Director James Comey recommended that Hillary Clinton not be charged for mishandling classified information while serving as secretary of state.

Comey argued that based on “the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent… and how similar situations have been handled in the past,” “no reasonable prosecutor” would even consider bringing a case like Clinton’s to court. (VIDEO: FBI Recommends ‘NO CHARGES’ For Hillary)

FBI director James Comey’s argument on Tuesday for declining to recommend criminal charges in the Hillary Clinton email server investigation was “absolutely bizarre,” according to former U.S. prosecutors.

Comey announced at a press conference on Tuesday that the he would not recommend criminal charges to the Department of Justice in the case, despite finding that Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” by sending hundreds of classified messages over multiple, unsecured private email servers.

While investigators concluded that information was improperly transmitted, Comey said he would not recommend criminal charges because “no reasonable prosecutor” would take up the case.

Joseph diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, called Comey’s statements an “absurdity in light of the conclusions that [the FBI] reached.”

“How can he spend 15 minutes describing a series of crimes being committed … and then he says no reasonable prosecutor [would prosecute]?” said diGenova. “That is ridiculous. I consider myself a reasonable prosecutor and I would have brought charges based on the facts that he accumulated.”

According to Comey, FBI investigators found that over 110 emails sent or received over Clinton’s private email system contained classified information at the time they were sent. They also found that Clinton had set up multiple private unsecured servers—as opposed to the single server that was previously reported—and that it was “possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account.”

OCEAN CITY, MD – : The Ocean City Police Department recently completed an initiative designed to improve the visibility of bicyclist during night time hours. While the number of pedestrian collisions has dramatically decreased over the past several years, bicycle collisions have not followed suit. A prevalent safety issue that the Department noticed was the lack of bicycle lights being used during the night time hours.

In an effort to correct this issue, the OCPD was awarded $800 in grant funding from the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office to purchase 60 bicycle lights which were then distributed to officers certified by the International Police Mountain Bike Association as Bike Maintenance Officers. The certified Bike Maintenance Officers then stopped violators that were observed riding their bicycles at night with no front and rear lights installed on their bicycles, most of which were visiting international students.

“Rather than ticketing the individuals, officers educated them on the importance of riding with bike safety lights and installed the lights on their bicycle during the stop,” commented Police Chief Ross Buzzuro. “This was an extremely successful initiative, receiving multiple positive comments from those that were stopped.”

Bicycle lights are essential to remaining safe during a night-time bicycle ride. “It can be nearly impossible for drivers to see cyclists that are not equipped with front and rear lights,” Buzzuro continued. “According to Maryland law, all bicyclists must have a white front light facing forward and visible from the front of the bike, and a red rear light facing backward and visible from the rear. Lights can be either steady or flashing and must be used during night-time hours. Violators can face a citation along with a $90 fine.”

During a Tuesday press conference, FBI Director James Comey recommended that Hillary Clinton not be charged for mishandling classified information while serving as secretary of state.

Comey argued that based on “the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent… and how similar situations have been handled in the past,” “no reasonable prosecutor” would even consider bringing a case like Clinton’s to court.

Only, that isn’t exactly accurate.

Less than one year ago, Assistant US attorneys Jean M. Hobler and Lee S. Bickley successfully prosecuted Naval Reservist Brian Nishimura in a strikingly similar case.Details here

The Democrats on the House Benghazi committee released their final conclusionsfrom the inquiry into attacks on Americans in that Libyan city in 2012, and in the report they say, once again, that the investigation is a politically motivated sham aimed at damaging the reputation of Hillary Clinton.

But the report, which the Democrats published as a preemptive strike before the Republican majority releases findings likely to charge ineptitude and deception by the former secretary of State, also revealed, apparently unintentionally, details about the eye-popping amount of money a close Clinton friend and advisor made in a contract with a pro-Clinton nonprofit.

Democrats released but redacted a transcript of Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal answering the committee’s questions to make the point that Republicans do not want the public to know what went on during the his interrogation, during which GOP members arguably used their subpoena power to conduct political opposition research unrelated to Benghazi.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing an Iowa church filed a federal lawsuit Monday against members of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, among others, to stop the government from censoring the church’s teaching on biblical sexuality and from forcing the church to open its restrooms and showers to members of the opposite sex.

The commission is interpreting a state law to ban churches from expressing their views on human sexuality if they would “directly or indirectly” make “persons of any particular…gender identity” feel “unwelcome” in conjunction with church services, events, and other religious activities. The speech ban could be used to gag churches from making any public comments—including from the pulpit—that could be viewed as unwelcome to persons who do not identify with their biological sex. This is because the commission says the law applies to churches during any activity that the commission deems to not have a “bona fide religious purpose.” Examples the commission gave are “a child care facility operated at a church or a church service open to the public,” which encompasses most events that churches hold.

ADF attorneys representing Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Des Moines argue in the lawsuit that all events held at a church on its property have a bona fide religious purpose, and that the commission has no authority to violate the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of religion and speech.

“Churches should be free to teach their religious beliefs and operate their houses of worship according to their faith without being threatened by the government. That is a foundational First Amendment principle,” said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. “Churches have always been protected from government intrusion, and they still are. They have a firmly established freedom to teach their beliefs and set internal policies that reflect their biblical teachings about marriage and human sexuality. One can hardly imagine a more obvious unconstitutional invasion of the state into the internal affairs of the church.”

(CNSNews.com) – In the aftermath of a deadly terrorist attack on a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital’s diplomatic quarter, the country is struggling to come to terms with the fact that most of the perpetrators were well-educated and wealthy – far from the stereotype of the impoverished and embittered jihadi recruit.

But a regional security expert said the fact people reacted to this with “astonishment” was in itself astonishing, given the documentation that calls into question the terror-poverty link proposition.

“The terrorists were from well-to-do families and were flamboyant young men,” the head of Bangladesh’s elite anti-terror unit, the Rapid Action Battalion, told India’s NDTV network.

“It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized,” said Benazir Ahmed. “At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds.

Ahmed said only one of the terrorists had been educated at a madrassa. The mostly privately-run Islamic schools have at times been associated, especially in the South Asian context, with radical ideology.More

According to the State Department Refugee Processing Center, the number of Syrian refugees entering the USA hit a new high in June 2016. In fact, the total number in June more than doubled the number in May. The total Syrian refugees resettled in the USA during June is 2,381.

The remainder comprise eight other Muslims, and one refugee giving no religious affiliation, according to State Department Refugee Processing Center data.THE MAY BREAKDOWN:1,069 Syrian refugees.– 2 were Christians– 1,060 were Sunni Muslims.

(CNSNews.com) – The “surge” of Syrian refugee admissions first announced by the State Department last spring hit a new peak during June – 2,381 refugees, or more than double the number permitted to resettle in the United States in May.

Of them, eight (0.3 percent) are Christians and 2,364 (99.2 percent) are Sunni Muslims. The remainder comprise eight other Muslims, and one refugee giving no religious affiliation, according to State Department Refugee Processing Center data.

In comparison, 1,069 Syrian refugees were admitted during May, of whom two were Christians and 1,060 were Sunnis. The other seven were other Muslims.

With the more than doubling of the number of admissions between May and June, the administration now looks, after a sluggish start, to be on track to meet President Obama’s target of 10,000 Syrian refugee admissions during fiscal year 2016.

I am intrigued by one aspect of both the Donald Trump campaign and the Brexit vote, namely the nearly fanatical vilification of the suggestion that a nation might actually seek to exercise some kind of control over immigration in order to maintain its cultural and religious identity. Both Trump supporters and Brexit voters have been dismissed by the establishment media as troglodytes, poorly educated ageing “white people” whose complete irrelevancy will be demonstrated when they all die off, taking their bigotry along with them. And may it come soon, according to the people who pontificate over such issues inside the Beltway and in the media.

Trump has even been attacked as “racist” for his wanting to deport illegal immigrants, something that is eminently sensible from a rule-of-law, national security and cultural identity point of view though practically problematic as there might be as many as 20 million of them in the U.S. If one does not believe that the schools and health care facilities in working class towns all over the United States have been negatively impacted by the wave of new and illegal arrivals one is either not paying attention or is willfully looking the other way.

I perhaps not surprisingly see the issue somewhat differently than the open borders or globalist crowd. We still live in a world of nation states, many of which have been around for a long time. Most have a dominant identity or unifying narrative which might well be ethnic, religious or even, as in the United States, cultural or institutional, which has sometimes been described as “civic nationalism.” In a country like the U.S. or Britain, where a form of democracy occasionally prevails, it would seem to me that the voters have a perfect right to demand that their government limit immigration both in numbers and by source in order to maintain the dominant culture. Edmund Burke once observed that “Society is indeed a contract … it becomes a participant not only between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.” That means that a nation is both a compact among the living and a legacy issue for those who are to come. Being able to control one’s borders to include who can and cannot enter is an integral part of what national sovereignty and identity are all about.

The Des Moines Register is reporting that Iowans recently held marathon readings of the Bible on the courthouse lawn in 50 counties.

The readings were organized by Ginny Caligiuri, the director of the Iowa Prayer Caucus. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad issued a proclamation supporting the day of prayer. The proclamation reads, in part:

WHEREAS, all scripture is essential to prepare us to be the people God wants us to be and to accomplish the purpose for which he created us; and

WHEREAS, America being founded upon biblical principles and Judeo-Christian ethics, as taught in the Bible, paid tribute to the Bible for its important influences upon the development of our nation by many of our great national leaders such as presidents Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson…

WHEREAS lawmakers, law enforcement, social scientists, civic and church leaders, are searching for solutions to the critical problems facing our nation, such as the drug crisis, violence, and social injustice, all of which can be found within God's will for mankind

The proclamation also quoted President Ronald Reagan: "Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face."

His former law clerks and colleagues in the Reagan administration had high praise for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the high court on July 1, 1991 - 25 years ago.

Thomas, who replaced Thurgood Marshall as the 106th justice, was described by those who’ve known him for more than a quarter century not only as a principled defender of the Constitution and therefore a foe of unlimited government power, but also as an engaging, gregarious mentor and friend who “knows everything about the Supreme Court, down to the names of the janitors.”

Professor John Yoo, who teaches law at the University of California/Berkeley, clerked for Thomas between 1994 and ’95. Yoo recalled that time as the jurist’s “coming out party, because he published a number of opinions in a large variety of cases that showed his true colors” as a constitutional originalist, Yoo told CNSNews.com.

“The view of the legal establishment over the last 30 to 40 years has been that the Constitution gives individuals rights, and the government recognizes those rights. But Justice Thomas has an 18th century view that every individual has natural rights, and had them before government existed, so the government cannot take them away,” Yoo said, adding that unlike Thomas, “very few justices have cited the Declaration of Independence as a legal text.”

Thomas’ view of natural rights has allowed him to “go a lot deeper in debates before the court” on issues ranging from rejecting affirmative action to defending state laws decriminalizing marijuana.

The conservative justice’s belief that “the Constitution means what it says, and we have to interpret it as the framers originally understood” also gives him a solid basis for rejecting past court decisions that did not hew to the founding document, Yoo told CNSNews.

If you have never visited the Camden Avenue Farmers Market in Salisbury, you are totally missing out. This is not just any Farmers Market – this is your entire shopping list in one place! The Camden Avenue Farmers Market, located in the parking lot of the Asbury United Methodist Church, has been in business for 9 years and boasts 20 vendors during peak season.

Another added bonus is that this market only allows producer-only vendors to sell their produce and wares. In other words, when you shop at the Camden Avenue Farmers Market, you are buying directly from the farmer. Real farmers caring for your purchase from beginning to end; whether it’s a vegetable, baked good, fillet of salmon or milkshake!

And there’s a reason why these dedicated producers stay with this market year after year. Bob Miller of Nice Cream Farmery said it best when asked why he chose to be a vendor at the Camden Avenue Farmers Market, “This market was a natural fit when searching for an outlet to provide a high quality dairy product.”

Other vendors couldn’t agree more. When asked, they each had the same positive feedback regarding their shoppers: consistent. Matt from Chesterfield Heirlooms added, “Our customers are awesome! They come out to see us in rain, snow, heat, you name it. They are very dedicated to buying local and that in turn makes us dedicated to produce for them year-round.”

On Monday, June 28th, Officers of the Berlin Police Department responded to Old Ocean City Blvd in reference to a groundhog attempting to scratch at the window of the doctor’s office. Upon locating the animal and the unnaturally aggressive actions, officers were forced to destroy the animal. The remains were secured by Worcester Animal Control and sent to the Worcester County Health Department for testing. This test showed positive for rabies.

There have been 5 investigations of rabies in the Berlin area (3 within the municipal limits) with 2 of the cases testing positive. These cases involve 3 raccoons, 2 groundhogs and a fox.

Due to the high volume of rain, these occurrences maybe more frequent due to the animals being temporarily forced out of the natural environments.

The Berlin Police Department advises its citizens to avoid any contact with possible wildlife that are found on their property. If you suspect that an animal may be rabid, inform the Police Department or the Worcester County Animal Control office.

A link has been provided here to the Worcester County Health Department’s Website with advice in dealing with rabies and possible exposure.

FBI director James Comey’s argument on Tuesday for declining to recommend criminal charges in the Hillary Clinton email server investigation was “absolutely bizarre,” according to former U.S. prosecutors.

Comey announced at a press conference on Tuesday that the he would not recommend criminal charges to the Department of Justice in the case, despite finding that Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” by sending hundreds of classified messages over multiple, unsecured private email servers.

While investigators concluded that information was improperly transmitted, Comey said he would not recommend criminal charges because “no reasonable prosecutor” would take up the case.

Joseph diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, called Comey’s statements an “absurdity in light of the conclusions that [the FBI] reached.”

“How can he spend 15 minutes describing a series of crimes being committed … and then he says no reasonable prosecutor [would prosecute]?” said diGenova. “That is ridiculous. I consider myself a reasonable prosecutor and I would have brought charges based on the facts that he accumulated.”

A man who was charged with falsifying documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC just days after posting bail.

Cary Peterson, the former CEO of the New Jersey-based microcap company RVPlus, Inc., was arrested by FBI agents at the San Francisco airport in March after fabricating “clean energy” contracts that his company allegedly had with foreign governments.

Peterson launched Democrats Socially United Super PAC on June 16, just one week after posting $6,000 bail at the Essex Country Correction Facility in Newark, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The PAC identifies a man named Alexander Pidgeon as its managing director and treasurer and lists its address in Las Vegas. Peterson is the designated agent and the chief coordinator of the PAC, according to the documents.

Peterson was arrested in March for filing SEC reports in 2012 and 2013 that claimed his company, RVPlus, had a relationship with the United Nations and clean energy agreements worth $2.8 billion with the governments of Haiti, Nigeria, and Liberia, according to the SEC’s complaint. The commission found that the company had no relationship with the United Nations and that the contracts were bogus.

Additionally, Peterson claimed within the filings that RVPlus had issued numerous invoices and was owed millions of dollars on the fake contracts. RVPlus and Peterson gained control of more than 90 percent of the company’s trading shares and handed them over to individuals who sold them on the market.More

A Brooklyn mosque said a pair of Muslim teenagers are victims of a hate crime after they were brutally beaten early Sunday morning outside the mosque after prayer services there — but police aren’t investigating the incident as a hate crime, WABC-TV reported.

After the teens left prayer services at the Muslim Community Center in Sunset Park, they saw a running vehicle parked in front and were looking at it when the attacker came at them from behind, the station said. Surveillance video shows it was just after 1 a.m. when the suspect repeatedly punched and kicked the teens in the street, the station said, adding that one victim suffered a concussion.

A mosque spokesman told WABC the attacker yelled “you effing terrorists!” The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — which called for a bias probe — noted on its Facebook page that the attacker said, “You Muslims are the cause of all the problems in the world,” the New York Daily News reported.

But police told the paper that the 16-year-olds were hitting on a woman inside the vehicle, tried to open the woman’s door and attempted to poke their heads inside. Sgt. Brendan Ryan added to the Daily News that things went on for over half an hour when the woman’s boyfriend emerged and attacked the teens.

Incident: False Identity / Hinder and Obstruct Date of Incident: 1 July 2016 Location: 9000 block of Wallertown Road, Mardela Springs, MD Suspect: Nicole Lynn Pleasanton, 31, Mardela Springs, MD Narrative: On 1 July 2016 at 8:58 AM a deputy responded to investigate a report of a subject acting disorderly in the area of 9000 block of Wallertown Road in Mardela Springs, MD. Upon arrival, the deputy was shown which residence the subject entered and the deputy approached that residence to meet with the subject. During the encounter, this subject who would ultimately be identified as Nicole Pleasanton, gave the deputy two different identities. The deputy who doubted the veracity of the identities provided, resorted to reviewing photographs that were linked with the provided identities which showed that Pleasanton was clearly attempting to obfuscate the investigating deputy. Upon finally determining the true identity of Pleasanton the deputy learned the reason she lied about her identity, there was an outstanding warrant that was issued after she failed to show for a Driving Suspended case. The deputy placed Pleasanton under arrest for providing the false identity and the outstanding warrant. Following an initial appearance, the District Court Commissioner detained Pleasanton on a total bond of $6,000.00. Charges: Obstruct and Hinder, Providing a False Identity, Assume a False Identity to Avoid Prosecution

Bradley, Jason

Incident: Possession of Heroin Date of Incident: 2 July 2016 Location: Substation Road at East Road, Salisbury, MD Suspect: Jason P. Bradley, 35, Salisbury, MD Narrative: On 2 July 2016 at 8:34 PM a deputy stopped to investigate a subject parked in a vehicle on a dirt road that is normally not frequently traveled. During the encounter, the deputy observed indicators exhibited by the operator, Jason Bradley, that caused the deputy to request a scan from a WCSO drug K9. Following the alert of that K9, the deputy searched the vehicle and recovered both heroin and a loaded syringe. The deputy placed Bradley under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Bradley on Personal Recognizance. Charges: Possession of Heroin

Jones, Kevin and Godwin, Lora

Incident: Assault Date of Incident: 4 July 2016 Location: 800 block of East Road, Salisbury, MD Suspect:Kevin L. Jones, 42, Salisbury, MDLora L. Godwin, 26, Salisbury, MD Narrative: On 4 July 2016 at 8:17 PM a deputy responded to a reported domestic related altercation at a residence in the 800 block of East Road in Salisbury. Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with the residents, Kevin Jones and Lora Godwin. The deputy learned that the pair became embroiled in an altercation that turned physical when Godwin allegedly struck Jones with a baseball bat. It was then reported Jones reportedly used the same bat to strike Godwin. During the investigation the deputy observed signs of injury that supported a mutual assault. The deputy arrested both Jones and Godwin and transported them to the Central Booking Unit where they were processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following their initial appearances, both were detained in the Detention Center in lieu of $10,000.00 bond each. Charges: Assault 2nd Degree

Tilghman, Rashad

Incident: Assault Date of Incident: 5 July 2016 Location: 500 block of Hearn Lane, Salisbury, MD Suspect: Rashad Izaak Tilghman, 20, Salisbury, MD Narrative: On 5 July 2016 at 2:00 AM a deputy responded to a residence in the 500 block of Hearn Lane for a reported assault. Upon arrival, the deputy met with a female subject who stated that she became embroiled in an argument with Rashad Tilghman that turned physical. Tilghman is accused of striking the female subject with a hammer on her shoulder casing injury. It was further alleged that Tilghman then bit the female subject repeatedly on her forearm and bicep. During the investigation the deputy saw signs of injury that corroborated the female subject’s account. The deputy placed Tilghman under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Tilghman in the Detention Center in lieu of $75,000.00 bond. Charges: Assault 1st Degree and Assault 2nd Degree

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Adults who host underage drinking parties can be held civilly liable for injuries caused by a drunken guest, Maryland’s highest court ruled unanimously on Tuesday in what one lawyer calls a landmark decision.

The Court of Appeals ruled in two lawsuits brought by victims of drunken driving incidents against adults who hosted parties that led to an underage guest becoming drunk.

The court based its decision on a Maryland criminal law that makes it illegal to serve alcohol to underage people outside of immediate family or a religious service.

Judge Sally D. Adkins wrote that people under 21 are less able to make responsible decisions regarding alcohol. Part of that law “carved out that specific class for special protection against adult social hosts who knowingly and willfully allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on their property.”

A Virginia resident and former member of the Army National Guard just got picked up Sunday by the FBI and charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, after which he reportedly told authorities he had “often thought about conducting an attack” on U.S. soil.

The Justice Department stated in a press release that Jollah was in contact with an ISIS member, now deceased, who introduced him to an FBI source posing as an ISIS member in the United States. Jollah met with the undercover informant twice, during which he admitted he was looking to carry out a Fort Hood-style attack he planned to carry out sometime during the month of Ramadan.

Interestingly enough, especially for those who blame guns and the NRA for every mass shooting rather than the terrorists who pull the trigger, the guy had apparently tried several times to buy a gun but was repeatedly turned down -- including by a licensed firearms dealer in Northern Virginia.

OCEAN CITY — Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-District 8) says there are a lot of similarities between he and US Senator Barbara Mikulski. That’s why he believes he is the man to replace the retiring political icon in November.

In the race to win the US Senate seat held by the longest tenured female in our country’s history, Democrat Chris Van Hollen hopes to earn support for Eastern Shore voters by showcasing some of those same qualities that made “Senator Barb” so likeable here on the coast.

“I want to assure people that if elected, we are going to adopt the Mikulski model when it comes not only the state of Maryland, but also the Eastern Shore,” he said while sipping coffee in a midtown Ocean City breakfast spot last Tuesday.

After Hurricane Gloria ravaged the coastline in Ocean City in 1985, Van Hollen, who was working in the governor’s office at the time, helped put together the plan that became known as the Beach Replenishment Project. Since its inception, the program has been credited with saving over a billion dollars’ worth of coastal real estate from storm damage via the natural levee forged by the sand dune system along the 10 miles of Ocean City coastline.

A woman was rushed to the emergency room following a botched abortion procedure at a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis., Mo., on Saturday.

That same Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, Mo., has been responsible for a total of 61 botched abortions over the last seven years. Operation Rescue, a pro-life Christian activist organization, has labeled it one of the most dangerous abortion facilities in the United States.

A total of 58 patients were brought to emergency rooms after undergoing abortions at the clinic between April 2009 and April 2016, of which 23 of them had experienced hemorrhaging. The St. Louis Fire Department released this information following a lawsuit from Operation Rescue. Unfortunately, due to the cut off date, this list does not include the emergency transportation of the patient who experienced a botched abortion at the facility on May 13.

It also does not include the one from Saturday, in which the woman’s transport from the clinic to an ambulance was caught on cameraby pro-life activists.More

Key assertions by Hillary Clinton in defense of her email practices have collapsed under FBI scrutiny.

The agency's yearlong investigation found that she did not, as she claimed, turn over all her work-related messages for release. It found that her private email server did carry classified emails, also contrary to her past statements. And it made clear that Clinton used many devices to send and receive email despite her statements that she set up her email system so that she only needed to carry one.

FBI Director James Comey's announcement Tuesday that he will not refer criminal charges to the Justice Department against Clinton spared her from prosecution and a devastating political predicament. But it left much of her account in tatters and may have aggravated questions of trust swirling around her Democratic presidential candidacy.

On Friday August 20, 1999, then-director of the CIA George Tenet announced he had suspended the security clearance of previous director John M. Deutch for storing classified information on a private server at his home. On January 20, 2001, as one of his last acts as president, Bill Clinton granted Deutch a presidential pardon, sparing him the prospect of a criminal conviction.

“The pardon of Mr. Deutch spares the former spy director any criminal charges for mishandling secret information on his home computer. Mr. Deutch, who resigned in 1996, has already had his security clearance stripped,” The New York Times reported at the time. “He had been considering a deal with the Justice Department in which he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of keeping classified data on home computers.”

The Washington Post reported just days later that Deutch had actually agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information, before he was saved by Clinton’s pardon.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore prosecutors are facing mounting obstacles in their manslaughter case against the highest-ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, and his trial Thursday hasn’t even begun.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams ruled Tuesday that prosecutors can’t enter into evidence 4,000 pages of documents involving the training of Lt. Brian Rice, the fourth of six officers — three black, three white — to be tried in the young black man’s death.

Gray died after his neck was broken inside the metal prisoner compartment of a police van. Prosecutors say the officers were criminally negligent when they bound Gray’s hands and feet with handcuffs and shackles, but left him unrestrained by a seatbelt, thus vulnerable to injury.

Prosecutors are expected to argue that the 17-year Baltimore Police veteran knew or should have known that he and the officers he commanded were violating orders by intentionally leaving Gray unbuckled. Examining his in-service training records in court might have helped.

Donald Trump’s trade speech this week was an eye-opener for me. It was the first time a politician spoke realistically about trade policy, instead of the globalist nostrums we’ve heard from both parties for decades. Plus: he spoke knowledgeably about using enforcement tools that are already available under U.S. law – tools that, frankly, administrations of both parties have avoided using.

Here’s an example: in the Clinton Administration I was a career civil servant and a member of a panel convened by the U.S. Trade Representative to compile an annual report on countries that were violating our intellectual property rights. This could range from pirating software, technology, high-end designer goods and more. Under U.S. law (nicknamed ‘Special 301’), the president could take punitive action by imposing tariffs on imported goods from the bad-actor country.

Why was Special 301 important? Knowledge workers and fashion designers, including entrepreneurs in the high tech sector can make money only if they are paid for what they produce. Intellectual property violators adopt a more Marxist view that ‘property is theft’ and freeload off of other’s work. Because the freeloaders aren’t paying royalties to the developers and designers, they can charge less for Product X than a firm that’s producing the same product but is playing by the rules.

A former Department of Justice attorney said Tuesday Hillary Clinton's actions regarding her use of private email can lead to criminal prosecution, regardless of the FBI's decision to not recommend charges.

Jacob Frenkel told CNBC he disagrees with FBI director James Comey regarding a key piece of the puzzle: intent.

"What I found a little bit more troubling is the continued and repeated reference to intent," Frenkel said. "They found no evidence of intent. There was one other point that he made during the press conference that I found a little bit troubling, which was they could not find any other such case historically.

"As to the issue of intent, he did describe what I would call a significant pattern, a significant practice, that there is a substitute in the law for criminal intent."

Frenkel argued that Clinton's pattern of mishandling classified information — Comey said the FBI found 110 emails that contained classified information — shows a level of intent to disobey the law.

"In lay terms, it's the ostrich head in the sand. In legal terms, it's called deliberate ignorance, or willful blindness or conscious avoidance," Frenkel said. "That is a point that he did not address and it certainly sounds like the type of situation that a reasonable prosecutor in other circumstances involving somebody who is not the secretary of state may well have considered finding that there is a legal substitute for criminal intent.More here

The Norwegian government has allegedly tried to hide millions of dollars in contributions to the Clinton Foundation spread out over eight years.

Daily newspaper Dagbladet has tracked $89.6 million of contributions back to Norway. Foreign Minister Børge Brende violated the government’s own policies by handing $3.57 million from the foreign aid budget to the Clinton Foundation, according to an internal memo.

The government and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation both split up donations into different channels of the Clinton Foundation in an attempt to make each contribution look smaller than it was. More

It appears that Hillary Clinton may have committed perjury back in October when she testified before the House Benghazi Committee that she did not send or receive any information “marked” classified information via email.

On Tuesday, before FBI director James Comey recommended “no charges” for Clinton over her having classified information on her private email server, he said, “Only a very small number of the e-mails containing classified information bore markings indicating the presence of classified information. But even if information is not marked ‘classified’ in an e-mail, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it.”

“None of these e-mails should have been on any kind of unclassified system, but their presence is especially concerning because all of these e-mails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff,” Comey said.

Chris Parypa PhotographyOcean City picture of the day... If you walked at the Boardwalk yesterday around 8pm you may find yourself in the picture ! I had a great evening taking pictures of crowd and some of the streets around the Boardwalk.

There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust. Director Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was “extremely careless” and strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services.

Yet, Director Comey recommended against prosecution of the law violations he clearly found on the ground that there was no intent to harm the United States.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte has a lot of questions for FBI Director James Comey, given the news that Comey won't recommend criminal charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information.

"It is clear that Secretary Clinton possibly jeopardized the safety and security of our citizens and nation through her use of private email servers," the Virginia Republican said in a Tuesday statement. "None should be above the law, and the American people need to know that federal law enforcement is taking this misconduct seriously."

Goodlatte "raised several concerns" with Comey in a phone call and peppered him with questions in a letter following up on that conversation. The inquiries centered on how Comey concluded that Clinton shouldn't be prosecuted for "gross negligence" in light of his conclusion that she showed "extreme carelessness" in handling classified information, including top-secret military information.

Of course, the news cycle is completely dominated by FBI Director James Comey’s announcement yesterday recommending no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. And my response is GREAT! I can’t thank Director Comey enough for coming to this decision.

My concern has always been that Barack Obama would release the hounds on Mrs. Clinton and then push for his vice president, Joe Biden, to be the Democrat nominee. And then, to placate the far lefty socialists, who own the Democrat party, Obama would position Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Biden’s VP. That would be a really tough ticket to beat, since Joe Biden’s favorables, regardless of gaffes and such, are extremely high.

However, James Comey just delivered a gift wrapped with a bow. Why do I say that?

He admitted no reasonable person could have believed putting these emails on a private server was at all appropriate or acceptable.

He admitted 110 emails on the server were classified at the time they were sent — showing Hillary not only lied, but knowingly endangered national security as secretary of state.

He admitted Hillary deleted work-related emails before turning them over to the State Department, despite her claims otherwise.

And, most shocking, Mr. Comey even admitted it’s likely foreign governments hacked her emails — and our adversaries could know critical secrets about the U.S. government because of Hillary’s actions.

Here’s a simple Southern summation. Hillary Clinton was extremely careless with our not just classified, but highly classified, information — why not just term this gross negligence? I can tell you, if I were a member of our Armed Services who’s been punished for misuse or mishandling of classified information, I would be filing an appeal.

The men said the site "arbitrarily and intentionally" excluded gay and lesbian people, which was a violation of California's civil rights acts that requires businesses to provide equal services regardless of sexual orientation.

On all the Spark Network sites, the first selection when a person sets up a dating profile is "I'm a man seeking a woman" or "I'm a woman seeking a man."

“I think it’s a bribe!” Trump stated, reacting to a recent New York Times report where Clinton said she may keep Lynch on as Attorney General if she’s elected President of the United States.

“Democrats close to Mrs. Clinton say she may decide to retain Ms. Lynch, the nation’s first black woman to be attorney general,” the New York Times reported on Sunday – two days before FBI director James Comey suggested no criminal charges should be filed against Clinton for using a private email server during her time as Secretary of State.

“It’s a bribe!” Trump charged. “How can you say that?”

“I mean the Attorney General is sitting there saying, ‘If I get Hillary off the hook, I’m going to have four more years or eight more years, but if she loses, I’m out of a job.’ It’s a bribe. It’s a disgrace,” the presumptive Republican nominee challenged.

The 30 members of the 29th Military Police Company gathered in the MG Henry C. Evans Armory in Westminster to say goodbye to 200 of their friends, family and fellow military members Tuesday morning, as they prepared for their deployment to Guantanamo in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The company was celebrated with a departure ceremony hosted by Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, the adjutant general of Maryland, immediately prior to its departure for Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The company will train at Fort Bliss for about a month, according to Col. Charles Kohler of the Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office. After that training, the company will be shipped off to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, offering security and support to the troops stationed there.

For Sgt. Jonathan Rawlings, of Sykesville, the approximately nine-month deployment will be difficult, with the departure ceremony marking one of the most emotional experiences of being an MP. This is the second departure for Rawlings, following a deployment to Afghanistan in 2013.

WikiLeaks on Monday released 12,058 Hillary Clinton emails it has compiled out of the 50,000-plus pages of emails released by the State Department.

According to The Hill, which first reported on the release, WikiLeaks pored through the emails released through Freedom of Information Act requests and compiled the ones it says Clinton sent or received during her time as secretary of state that related to the Iraq War.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange last month said his organization had found enough evidence to have Clinton indicted.

Many Americans reacted furiously to the FBI’s announcement that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges over her email scandal, with some asserting that since the former Secretary of State appears to be above the law, they would also now refuse to follow it.

“Why should we follow the law when our leaders don’t?” asked one respondent, adding, “This Clinton bullshit has sealed the deal for me. We are ruled by a corrupt cabal that is above the law.”

“If Clinton wins, I’m not paying taxes anymore or following federal laws,” wrote another, adding, “Simple as that. It’s over. They can jail or kill me, I don’t care. I’d rather live as a free American for a day, then spend a lifetime under criminals.”

Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton's use of Air Force One for campaigning purposes, asking "Who pays?" for the hourly rate of $206,337 (2-year-old estimate) it costs to run the plane, CBS News reports.

Trump tweeted:

President Obama invited Clinton to fly with him to North Carolina, where he will campaign with her this week.

Trump called it a "total disgrace" that taxpayers are paying for the president and the Democratic nominee to be ferried around for what is clearly not official business of the president.

According to a new NBC News/Survey Monkey weekly election tracking poll released Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is ahead of Donald Trump nationally by 5 points, in a slight drop over last week's results, but when she's paired up against other hypothetical candidates, she comes out behind.

The poll, conducted online from June 27 to July 3, found:

Clinton: 48 percent;Trump: 43 percent;Clinton vs. Mitt Romney: 45 percent each;House Speaker Paul Ryan over Clinton: 47-45 percentOhio Gov. John Kasich over Clinton: 50-42 percent.And when other choices are added in, Clinton came out ahead of Trump by a few points, netting 41-38 percent when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included as choices.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a man during a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said, in a death that prompted a protest later in the day.

An autopsy shows Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, died Tuesday of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark said.

Officers responded to the store about 12:35 a.m. Tuesday after an anonymous caller indicated a man selling music CDs and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun, Cpl. L'Jean McKneely said.

Two officers responded and had some type of altercation with the man and one officer fatally shot the suspect, McKneely said. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard department policy, he said.

Selbyville –The Delaware State Police have identified and arrested one of the two subjects that made threatening statements at the Americana Bayside Welcome Center.

The incident took place around 2:55 p.m. on Sunday July 3, 2016 when two male subjects entered the Americana Bayside Welcome Center located at 31254 Americana Parkway and made alarming statements to an employee at the desk. As a result, due to heightened security concerns and for the safety of the public, “The Band Perry” who was scheduled to perform at The Freeman Stage at Bayside later that evening, postponed the concert until a later date.

Shortly after the press release was sent out to media outlets and social media platforms, several tips were sent into state police detectives working the case.Dzmitry N. Papou, 35 of Selbyville, contacted troopers and then responded to Troop 4 in Georgetown Monday evening where he turned himself in after learning of the photos through the local media. He was charged with one count of Terroristic Threatening (Felony) and arraigned at JP3 before being released on $20,000.00 unsecured bond and a no contact order with Americana Bayside.

The second suspect has been identified but has not been arrested. This is an on-going and active investigation and so as to not jeopardize the investigation, specific details will not be released.

PRETORIA, South Africa -- A South African judge sentenced Oscar Pistorius to six years in prison for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his home on Valentine's Day 2013.

The double-amputee Olympic track star hugged family as he arrived at the Pretoria courtroom Wednesday, and then sat stoically as Judge Thokozile Masipa first explained the background to her decision, and then announced the sentence.

"I am of the view that a long term of imprisonment will not serve justice in this matter" said Masipa just before handing down the six-year sentence. She noted that Pistorius was a first time offender, and that he is "not likely to re-offend."

Barry and June Steenkamp, the slain woman's parents, sat across the courtroom from Pistorius on Wednesday. They showed little emotion over the verdict, but her father appeared disappointed.

Conservative commentator and former GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan argued this weekend that GOP elites who represent the globalist wing of the party will not attend this year’s convention because Donald Trump’s insurrection against them on trade, immigration, and foreign policy has succeeded.

When host Michael Smerconish mentioned on his Saturday CNN program that the party’s last two Presidents—George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush—and presidential nominees—Mitt Romney and John McCain—will not be attending this year’s convention in Cleveland, Buchanan said the reason the elites and the “leadership of the party and the old leadership of the party is not showing up is because Donald Trump, the nominee, is conducting an insurrection against those individuals and against the policy they produced, on trade, immigration and foreign policy.”

“If Donald Trump wins this election, he is going to take the country in a new direction,” he said. “He’s running an insurrection against the political, corporate, and media elites in Washington, D.C., and he’s running an insurrection against the Republican elites, and he has succeeded.”